The looping, twisted tubular tower stands at 115m – taller than the Statue of Liberty (93 metres) and Big Ben (96 metres) – and will afford visitors a panoramic view of London.Designed by Turner Prize-winning artist Anish Kapoor, the spiralling steel structure will cost £19.1m, though only £3.1m of this will come from the London Development Agency, with the rest coming from steel company ArcelorMittal.
Boris has nicknamed it "The Hubble Bubble" because he thinks it looks like a massive shisha pipe. Which I don't really see (What has HE been smoking, etc!), but then the curved design is supposed to incorporate the five Olympic rings, and I don't really see that either.
As a legacy building, it may be no Eiffel Tower, but at least the viewing platform means it will actually have a use, giving it an edge over the Angel of the North, for example.
I like it. A little bit alien invasion, a little bit rollercoaster, a little bit… BRIGHT RED. It's a little bit tacky, sure, but while not every structure can be a landmark, Mr Christopher sees nothing wrong with large-scale public art striving to be strong, striking and spectacular. As the tower will be built inside the Olympic Park itself, it will be surrounded by modern stadia and regenerated landscape, so you can't accuse it of being particularly unsympathetic to its environment.
Mr Christopher verdict: War of the Worlds meets Angel of the North and apparently also a shisha pipe. 7/10
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"because he thinks it looks like a massive shisha pipe". Boris is an imbecile, pointing at things and stating random things they remind him of, like a toddler.
ReplyDeleteI agree with all you've said, Mr Christopher. It's not a piece of thought-provoking, beautiful art, but it's cool.